Crystal: My Favourite Pokémon Game
Twenty-two years after I first played the game, I share my thoughts on my favourite Pokémon game
While my Pokémon journey began with Blue in 2001, the second generation of games took my love for the franchise to an even greater level. Although it sold six million copies globally, Pokémon Crystal is currently the worst selling title in the series. Despite this, I loved every moment of my time with the game, and today I want to explain why I consider it my favourite Pokémon title.
Originally I wanted to own a copy of Pokémon Silver, as I was a big fan of Lugia. After being advised by the shop attendant to buy the latest game instead, a copy of Crystal came home with me and took pride and place inside my Game Boy Color, with Blue going safely back into its box. Immediately, I saw the graphical contrast between Blue and Crystal, with night and daytime colour palettes, improved detail, and cool animations that showed me this was a step up from what came previously.
I was fortunate enough to have a local friend who also had Crystal, and we would play together most days. In addition to trading and battling one another, we would exchange a daily Mystery Gift and fight a computer-controlled team of each other’s Pokémon at the Trainer House in Viridian City. Having someone to play with so regularly allowed me to make the most of all the game’s features.
My companion to this game was a Game Boy Color and the Pocket Pikachu Color, which was a really awesome pedometer device that connected via the Infrared port on top of the Color. This allowed the Pikachu Color to send a gift to our copies of Pokémon Crystal in addition to our Mystery Gift trades. The device was with me wherever I travelled, letting me rack up a huge amount of watts, generated by the number of steps I would take, which in turn could be sent to Crystal to exchange for items. Years later, I would use Pokémon SoulSilver and the Pokéwalker accessory to achieve a similar function.
I was also a huge fan of Generation 2’s music, which elevated this game to even greater heights. Whether I was cycling, casually strolling through the National Park, or battling a Johto gym leader, the volume on my Game Boy Color was always turned up to its maximum. I love these iconic themes as much today as I did back then.
Generation 2 brought one hundred brand-new Pokémon to the series, and I fell in love with many of the new designs. I was a huge fan of the starters, especially Cyndaquil which was my choice from Professor Elm, and Pokémon such as Skarmory, Heracross, Kingdra, Forretress and Lugia were some of my favourites. Who could forget using a Squirtbottle on the shaking Sudowoodo?
I also had a lot of fun interacting with characters in the game, such as tuning in to Buena’s Password on the radio to get the answer for her quiz, accumulating points on the Blue Card to exchange for cool items in the process. Regular visits beneath Goldenrod City to visit the two haircut brothers were common, especially to raise the happiness of my Togepi. I also spent a while tracking down the Week Siblings, characters that represented days of the week, such as Monica of Monday and Sunny of Sunday. Finding the secret beach with three female trainers just south of Goldenrod City was another memorable moment. I felt a sense of pride when I was able to heal the poorly Miltank at the MooMoo farm and the Ampharos at the Olivine City Lighthouse.
Even Johto itself was a sight to behold! I liked the variety of caves, routes, towns and cities, and the traditional Japanese aesthetic found across the game, from the towers in Ecruteak City to the Ilex Forest shrine. Even with all the detail and improvements compared to Blue, the game managed to represent the Kanto region, despite the limited space on the cartridge. These moments continue to stay with me all these years later.
I write about this game almost twenty-two years after its original release, and I respect that the game has shortcomings compared to later games – of course it does! Kanto should have been a more fulfilling experience, and the level balance across the game was poor. It came out too late in the dying days of the Game Boy Color just as its successor, the Game Boy Advance, was releasing, undoubtedly affecting its sales. It had far too many baby Pokémon and lacked a Safari Zone. Annoyingly, two other favourite Pokémon from that generation, Misdreavus and Larvitar, were locked out until the very end of the game at Mt. Silver. To this day, I am debating whether letting my in-game mom ‘save’ my cash was a good decision…
But I didn’t write this to talk about the best Pokémon game; I wanted to write about my favourite Pokémon game. My memories, experiences, and everything I hold dear about Pokémon Crystal far outweigh any of its shortcomings. While HeartGold and SoulSilver recreated the Johto experiences faithfully, and with plenty of quality of life improvements over the original games which I adored, Crystal can’t so easily be removed from the pedestal I have placed it upon.